Me into me!

To the ignoramus, this YouTube clip would be a joke. Laced with a thick South Indian accent, impregnated with assertive gestures and complete with protruding eye movements for special effects, it has been making its rounds in many social media outlets many times over for hearty laughs and cynical smiles.

Added on with the fact that this holy man was once caught on a CCTV to be in close proximity with a disciple, this flick becomes more enticing. Because of his unholy conduct, in a single brush, all his seemingly profound sermons have come to nought.

If one were to listen to heart what Swami Nityananda is saying, depending on one’s understanding of life, its origin and purpose, it could not be denied that his speech carries a deeper meaning.

He is talking about the Atma (soul) that is within all of us that is part of the Brahman as mentioned in the Vedic scriptures. The souls of all beings are linked in a different realm. To quote a line from Beatles’ song ‘I am the Walrus’, ‘I am he as you are he as you are me. And we are all together’, we are all one.

Of course, he is talking about the Brahman which is in all of us. The Master Intellect that Avicenna propagates that is part and parcel of every living being. In essence, the reference is to that entity defined as 'Consciousness' that makes Man a thinking being; that something worry, ruminate, plan a future and develop evil thoughts! It is also the one that builds an ambition and thinks beyond the instant gratification. Unlike Pavlov's dog, Man does not merely salivate but ponder why the lunch is free.

In another clip, the Swami lectures about rocket propulsion energy and how ancient aliens with their understanding about centrifugal and centripetal forces flew the mythical Vimanas, the intergalactic flying vessel. In yet another, he introduces quantum physics. Quantum biology explains the rationale behind prana healing, faith healing and the idiopathic nature of some cases of infertility which deems untreatable by modern sciences but not by the men in saffron robes.

In the preacher's mind, he must be thinking of a quote from the Bible, "Don't speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words." To the uninitiated, it is a comedy. To the thinker, he finds sense in the gobbledegook.

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Death: Not the end but a new beginning?

The Fountain (2006)
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Darren Aronofsky 


It seems that there were two trees in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and decided to savour the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil), God cast them to Earth and hid the other tree, the Tree of Life.

From time immemorial, people have been going to great lengths to locate this 'Tree of Life'. They are under the impression that it could give Man immortality. This story is just about that and the conclusion that the characters draw quite humbling.

It spans three lifetimes all trying to find the 'tree of life' with the hope of attaining immortality! All three lifelines are portrayed interspersed with each other but it all falls into place at the end. In the first one, Tomas (Hugh Jackman) is a Spanish conquistador in search of the tree in South America for Queen Isabella (Rachel Weisz), so that they can live happily together forever. In the second caption, Jackman is Tom Core, a scientist, who obtained a particular tree from South America, which can regenerate nerve tissue. He is banking on this breakthrough to save his cancer inflicted dying wife, Izzi (also Rachel Weisz). Izzi writes a story about a Spanish conquistador who ends up in a nebula, where the Mayans believe souls reside before they are reborn.

Sure enough, in the third snippet, occurring many years in the future, Tom is in a bubble-like space capsule, reaching the said nebula, Xibalba.

In a very complicated way, with many scenes which scream of symbolism and interpretation according to your beliefs, the film tells its own message. Life, as we know it, is eternal if you take the soul as the ultimate thing of life. The physical body is just a vessel to perform our earthly functions. Our life actually comes back. Maybe not in the same form but another form, even in the shape of a plant. After all, plants are also living beings. What makes us so special?

The film also impresses upon us not to be too worried about dying. It is just another phase that we should embrace with an open heart. After all, it is not the end but the beginning of another life.

N.B. Does that mean the universe has a finite number of souls or lives? After all, the population of the world has increased by many folds since the beginning of time. Even if lives are recycled, there will come a time when shortage would happen. Forget one soul living just once and spending the afterlife in eternity! Just a thought. 

Unchain my soul?

Some say that the mere fact that we are born on Earth is torture. It is a punishment of sorts. All the aches, the physical pains, the emotional pains, the disappointments, the cheats, the fall and loss of function may be just an ellipse of what a man faces in his lifetime. Saying all these, even the wisest of men, would like to hold on to his last breath not matter what in exchange for all the wealth in the world.

Many religions that promote themselves as a way of life suggest that the relationships that we develop along the way in our life are the cause of most of our problems. We should either not to take to heart all the miseries that develop in our daily interactions with our friends, colleagues, and loved ones or cut ourselves from these relationships. In the other words, renunciation is the word. 

Renunciation can be done, it seems, in two ways. In the first instance, one can choose a life of self-sacrifice and self-avoidance from the time of adolescence or at coming -of-age. In other words, inner primordial animalistic desires of the flesh and worldly yearnings can be suppressed before new bonds build. He may retreat to lead a recluse life trying to find the real meaning of life and plan for a promotion in his next life form. In short, he is absolved of his worldly duties. But, what happens to his elders and siblings who may look at him as neglecting his human duties for the relationships that he already developed when he was brought into this world as a living creature? Has he not duties to perform to repay his existence? Is he not being selfish of concentrating on himself? Is it not the nature of man to help one another? What better reason could there be if not for filial piety?

The second form of renunciation may be done after his duties are seemingly complete. He could produce offsprings, guided them through the nuances of life for them to stand on their own feet. But is it really over? Is it ever over? In the modern times, it appears to me that one has to be constantly working to maintain sanity. Once, he recoils from being productive or at least self-sufficient, he is deemed a burden to society. People cannot wait for him to go to the other side. 

Heart, brain, liver and soul

I remember one of my classmates, KT, asking a teacher when we were in Form 2. It was a Malay language class. And the guy had a coarse way of demanding an answer to his question.

He asked,  “Why are the people so stupid? Why do people say, ‘jatuh hati’ when you fall in love, ‘patah hati’ when you are heart-broken or falling out of love?” trying to sound like a smart alec. “We think with our brain, not liver!” (Hati is liver in the Malay language)

Sounds like a simple question but believe me, it is not. Greek philosophers have been arguing that the soul a person is in the heart or the mind. It was Galen who first proposed the tripartite division of souls; the rational one in the brain, the spiritual one in the heart and appetitive one in the liver.

As love and lust are forms of desire just as appetite satisfies the culinary desires of an individual, they must have bundled to arise from the liver. So, the message is, do not listen to heart, do not rationalise the relationship by overthinking. As long as she can satisfy your appetite, gustatory, i.e., go for it.  As they say, the way to the man’s heart is through his stomach! And he can stomach her, that is.

N.B. 'Berhati perut' interestingly means 'showing compassion' in another Malay proverb.

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